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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 20, 2008 15:01:14 GMT -8
Post recaps of Clay in Spamalot in this thread ....I will make another one for the 2nd week and so on
~Heather~
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 20, 2008 15:04:35 GMT -8
Trying for a quick run down but as you may know I never remember a whole lot, When we arrived Dance4Me and I spent a few minutes looking for Clay's name somewhere "big" on the theater. I finally found it on the street side, one large "Clay Aiken". We had Clay fans sitting on both sides of us and in back of us too. Next to Michelle was a woman, very friendly and nice from Montreal, CA. They talked and talked but I couldn't hear most of what they said. She has already seen Spamalot 14 times, wow and she's from Montreal? Her friends were all sitting in the first row and one of them who she was rooming with was "Secretly Loves Clay". In front of us were a few men definitely from out of town, one of them especially was visibly laughing hard throughout the show. Clay was his usual self and looked very comfortable back in his role. I had Michelle look for Jaymes but if she was there we did not see her. New King. Deckman got the next biggest applause next to Clay, all the Clay fan's love him. Same Lancelot and Galahad and Patsy. New Lady in The Lake was good but we missed Hanna, no one can compare with her and it showed. That to me was the biggest disappointment. Clay added a couple of comic things, eye rolls and tongue gestures, they were good. He did not do the playing with the ribbons. The applause for Clay when he first appeared in the window, when he did his song and when he came out at the end and bows was almost deafening. Everyone knew Claymates were in the house!!!! He even got a standing O. The stage door was mobbed with perhaps a hundred or even more, we did not stay for it as we had to catch a train for home. I did not walk in the door until 1 AM as it was. I can't think of more to add, you can read other reviews that say more. PS. When we came out of the theater there was a couple walking along next to us. They asked about Clay. They of course noticed the love for Clay from the audience. They said his fan club was there in the house? I sad no just a lot of his fans from many places not his "fan club". They were quite excited, said they never watched "Idol" didn't know much about Clay. They were very impressed by his talent, singing, acting ability etc. I said Thank You, and we know. Clay took Broadway by storm once again !!!!!!!
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 20, 2008 15:06:13 GMT -8
And last but not least, "the white pants were quite a treat...quite a treat!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The excitement tonight was palpable...when the lights went down the electricity in the air was amazing. Won't go blow by blow but will give the highlights.
The new King, Michael Siberry, is hysterical, he plays the role a bit looser and more comical than Jonathan Hadary. I really think he is refreshing and quite fun. During the coconut scene he was a bit snarky in tone with Clay, which allowed Clay to be a bit snarky in return. They played well off one another.
Clay's entrance was met with huge applause. I must say having seen the show with Robert Petkoff who plays the part so dry...that Clay's more energized and comedic take is a breath of fresh air. He is so much more visual by that I mean he uses his hands much more...he fiddles with his strap of his helmet, he does the fluttering of his hands when discussing the birds. And his face is so much more emotive, especially during "i had a feeling".
LOL-Merle Dandridge, she is very pretty and has a beautiful voice. She is no Hannah who literally owns the stage with her presence. But compared to prior LOL (Marlin Masi)...Merle is far superior to her. I think her personality really came through during the Camelot scene.
Clay was in excellent voice tonight, he may have had some mic problems...they weren't horribly noticeable, but he did try to adjust by pushing back his helmet during the guard scene.
It was nice to see the "Clay" only parts back in the show, i had missed them...
He was particular emotive when the Camelot girls arrived and when the first Camelot girl came out, he was like OMG...
When LOL threw her glove, Clay caught it and bobbled it a bit and the glove ended poking Sir Galahad in eye...
I thought his someone swallowed it (talking about the grail)portion was better this time around...not sure why, but i did...
Slo-Mo horse..there w as tongue...need i say more ?
The French Taunters were full of their usual antics, Tom actually reached into his pants...raunchy, but funny
Again, having seen Robert Petkoff's very subdued performance it was really nice to see Clay soil his pants with some energy and verve...he has obviously learned a thing or two from Parker
He added playing with the belt on his tunic when talking to the Knights of NI
Knights of Ni did the I am really the father of Sarah Palins daughter's baby...saying that he didn't fit into the family portrait...exited the stage talking about putting lipstick on a pig...the audience howled during this exchange...
The tunic flip was nice and high...just like we like it
bottle dance...i think he was sore, but you couldn't tell...he used his tongue quite a bit in the dance and boy was it good...the applause was huge...and it looked to me that he was just absorbing it all in that maybe his soul needed some good long and loud applause...
Tom isn't bending backwards ...he changed it up to more of a simpering type things...still very funny....
Guard scene...no iffum, iffum...and no braiding more like staring off into the distance...still very funny...
When the hand of God did descend it barely came down...it was hysterical we all had to look up.
The Peasant was so cute and got to shake Clay's hand...what a special moment.
I caught a glimpse of a striped grey sock...
and the dance that he did at the end of with David and Sir Bevedere was very cute and ended with a shrug ....like oops not sure what to do next...
You couldn't tell that he had been gone...he was flawless and the audience ate him up...he was fabulous and it was wonderful seeing him on the stage...
The area for th e stage door seemed to be minus a barricade, but the crowd was loud and enthusiastic...and Clay made sure to loop around a second time in order to take a picture with a young women in a wheel chair...it was a beautiful moment...
He is back and what a pleasure it was to share with Clay and all the Clay fans...
And it was a great pleasure to meet Elaine, Ilbun, Marge, MarieDrummond(hope you feel better) and to spend some more time with Toni, Rockysmom, AmeriakieninTexas(Alice) and Dancermom...
this recap may travel.
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 20, 2008 15:07:24 GMT -8
Very quick stage door. She even thought the whole second half was quicker than usual. Like when he is over by the king after his big number, it wasn't as drawn out. During the guard scene, he didn't play with the ribbons. When he was "killed" during the guard scene he threw his legs in the air as he fell so his tunic went up. When the LOL said her name, he said "Oh, my God". Huge tunic flip at the piano. He did the knee flip to get the tunic out of his way as he went down for the bottle dance. Lots of shoulder shrugs and shimmying while dancing. She thought the horse riding was very different...like he was scared, going to "fall off". They could see him on the side backstage (in the wings) just before he came out for the guard scene wave to someone on the other side backstage. Lots of tongue going all over the place during the bottle dance. He was concentrating so hard it almost looked like his eyes were crossed. At the killer rabbit scene, he was making rabbit ears on his head with his fingers/hands. Bent back and grabbed his butt during the "soiled my armor" line. Knights of Ni did the Sarah Palin line again. The Brittney Spears line was back in the Diva song. At the end of "Run away" (I think) he was yelling "wait for me!" During the curtain call he did tug on his pants. Lots of hips thrusts and laughs during the dance at the curtain call. They could see his purple, maroon, and either pink or white striped socks. He saluted as he backed off the stage before the curtain fell. He was wearing a brown hoodie with the hood up and tan pants at the stage door.
They decided to stay for tonight's show so I'll hear more later.
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What I remembered from the matinee show today:
- During "I'm Not Dead Yet" scene, Clay didn't wear his boots. Because of that, his pants were flapping a little and he kinda kept grabbing them at the back. - We were sitting dead centre in Row C and sis and I noticed a little hole in his wooly tights on the left thigh. - I noticed that Clay's inflection on the word "quail" is different from the earlier this year. He says it now not as a question but as an exclamation. - Clay, as Brother Maynard, is more animated than earlier this year. - The King does a different tap dance than the previous King during the Camelot scene. - Tom Deckman was out this aft and replaced by Michael O'Donell.
You must catch Clay's performance at Spamalot if you can!
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 20, 2008 17:47:54 GMT -8
Spamalot Week 1 ~ September 20th, 2008 ~
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 20, 2008 17:50:17 GMT -8
Intermission report:
xxx4clay just called. They are having a wonderful time and, needless to say, Clay is awesome. She said she is constantly amazed at his facial expressions.
Here's some great news! llbun printed out the bio (in French) that she submitted to the contest and took it with her. She got it to Jerome and Jerome had Clay sign it for her! What a lucky gal! A "one of a kind" memory!
People going back in as intermission is about over, so they had to go.
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 20, 2008 17:54:04 GMT -8
Just heard from Tiggy. She and Claylily are having a blast at Spamalot! Clay is awesome, his facial expressions are priceless! Not much difference in tonight's performance from the matinee. They are in SRO so they can't see the balcony or Mez. They saw many. many people going up so they think it is pretty full. The orchestra is full. She says Clay is really playing up the cowardly aspect of Sir Robin. When he took the torch, he acted like he was afraid it would burn him. Again, he kept himself flat on the floor as "God" spoke to the knights. No milking gestures this time in response to what would they do with a cow? When he was getting off th "horse", he grabbed his ankle and lifted it over the "horse". He went down much lower. He played with the helmet strap and again, clapped his hands backwards to indicate the coconuts clapping together. She loves Galahad and Bedevere. Again, he yelled "wait for me!" as he ran off stage after "Run Away!"
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 20, 2008 18:55:40 GMT -8
Intermission report from toni7babe & Scarlett
-Good crowd, good mix of fans and NJU...lots of men. It seems mostly sold out in orchestra and mezzanine.
- Lots of energy tonight...no Tom though. The king rocks!
- Guard scene perfect...his timing was great!
-Cute faces during Not Yet Dead.
- During Camelot, he did his "come to daddy" and lots of shimmying and flirting with the girls. Lots of tongue and lip licking!
- When he say "Lovely Spam, wonderful Spam...", he got front and center with his legs far apart and crouched down as he sang!
- Clay was rocking out during Find Your Grail.
- Head down again for the God scene. He was shaking and trembling like he was scared. Cute.
- The French girl who chases him kept sticking her tongue out at him.
- Yelled "wait for meeeeee!!!" at the end of Act I before the curtain went down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi everyone. Well, I made it through the entire show this afternoon!!!!
I don't have much to add to the show's recap as so many have done so much better than I could. What I do have however is a few minutes of conversation with Jerome.
Here are a few things he had to say. Parker has slept through some nights but not all as all babies will do (his words). When asked who Parker looks like, he said: "Well, you know babies..." When pushed further, he said that Parker looks like Ms. Parker (Faye). AWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!
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After show report from toni7babe and Scarlett
-Clay was very chatty at the stage door. Same outfit as earlier but with the hood down. Opening night hair...freshly scrubbed!
-Clay was saying "hi ladies" and signing for everyone. When he was signing for toni, he accidentally wrote on her hand and said, "oh, I wrote on your hand".
- No ribbon braiding tonight.
-Knights of Ni did the Palin line and then said, "c'mon, I know where we can find some crystal meth" (Ryan and Redmond O'Neal story from this week)
- He sang the AMEN!!!!! And then they all sang it back to him!
- Standing Os only for Clay. The guy behind toni and Scarlett was laughing his ass off the whole time.
- Clay had on mismatched striped socks and was kicking and pointing up in the air while he was dancing during the finale.
- There are lots of pics coming and SD video from AAIT!
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 20, 2008 20:37:56 GMT -8
Not much more to add to what has already been reported. Clay at SD did stay out longer and was much more chatty. I got his autograph and Merle's too. Marie Drummond was video taping when he stopped past Toni and had a chat with fans about some lines being changed and I was too far away to her what he said but I bet Marie has it on tape. Before SD Jerome was out for 10 minutes looking for someone who never showed up so we all started talking to him. He was a doll. Said Toni was inviting everyone to Sardi's and paying for it. Finally Jerome left since the person hadn't shown up, and out walks Clay with a tiny gal who looked like his cousin Jamie. He says "everyone say hi to Shannon" so we did. You'll have lots of clack from this SD because he finally had that hood down so you could see his face! He looked so happy!!! Show went great. No Tom though My favorite part was Brother Maynard doing the amen and all the guys singing it back to him. Of course all Sir Robin's bits and songs went great, as usual. Oh and he barely had a curtain call - lasted 2 seconds because Merle was 20 seconds or more late for her bow. When Clay came out she mouthed to him "sorry Clay" because he literally had no time for a lengthy bow since the orchestra started playing the King's music. That's it. I fly back to California tomorrow.....TG for Clack! Luluasst
PS Melissa - I saw Clay hug you last night and LOVE your letter!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PS I forgot!!!! The peasant was a guy and he was so cute, shaking up there on stage.
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Tiggy's after the show report:
Huge applauses! Brother Maynard sang the Amen! When Sir Robin soiled himself, he accurately described it with a "#*@%"! Big tunic flip at the piano. Lots of tongue and eyes all over the place during the bottle dance. Clay came jumping out from the side during YWSOB when the dancing Jewish girls were either coming on or off the stage. Knights of Ni did the Palin baby and said "I know where we can find some crystal meth". Tiggy thinks he's playing the guard a little differently, a little more abrupt like he is talking back to the king. Clay did the salute as he backed off before the curtain fell. No hip thrusts during the curtain call dance. Mismatched striped socks. Brown hoodie and beige track pants at the stage door. He came out of the stage door with his arm around Shannon (his dresser) and said "You all remember Shannon, don't you" grinning from ear to ear! (I'm sure she remembers him ) He was very happy at the stage door. While he was signing for Claylily she commented on how young he looked and he added "skinny too"! When they were waiting to go into the theater, a woman near them in line realized Clay was in the show and got all excited saying, "Clay Aiken, Clay Aiken, I didn't know he was in this!"
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 21, 2008 12:10:49 GMT -8
SPAMALOT 9-21-08 [/size]
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 21, 2008 12:13:39 GMT -8
Before show report from toni7babe:
The flea market is very cool but a zoo. Besides the alley, they have parts of 44th and 45th closed off. The Spamalot table is right by the theater door. Besides the posters, they are selling Playbills autographed by the current cast for $20. Clay has the little squigglies after his signature. She is in the theater now and is in a great front row seat. This is her last show for a while so she's very happy with her seat.The theater is slow filling because of the flea market. There are people already sitting in the back of the orchestra so that should be pretty full. The mezz was filling and there were some people in the balcony. Tom is out again today. She'll call back at halftime!
I can not imagine there will be a stage door this afternoon.
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Intermission report from toni7babe :
-Not a huge crowd in the theater today, mostly NJU. Orchestra is filled and mezz is maybe 1/2 filled...couple of rows of the balcony filled.
-Clay is getting a good reception and lots of cheers, especially for his "Idol of my age" line.
-Toni is sitting beside a couple who are huge Monty Python fans. They are really enjoying Clay!
-Tower scene, played with his straps, did his little sing song about the coconuts.
-During "Camelot", the girl with the drinks kissed him on the cheek and left a red lipstick mark that stayed through the entire first act. He was so excited and was jumping for joy telling Gallahad, "Did you see the girl with the glasses...she kissed me, she kissed me!" toni is sitting right in front of Clay and Gallahad during that scene.
- Clay has lots of energy and was rocking out during "Find Your Grail".
-During the French Taunter scene, he pet his horse. He also fondled the wooden rabbit for a bit before he turned around and said, "Oh Wow!"
-During "Run Away", the girl who chases him was sticking her tongue out at him. At one point she touched her tongue and then wiped her finger on his cheek.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ xxx just called me during intermission. She reports a good sized crowd, though she can't see too far into Mezz. and balcony. Orch full except for the extreme side seats. Mostly NJU in the crowd today but he's getting great laughs and appreciation from the crowd. Schubert Alley is a zoo and obviously there won't be a "Stage Door" today as there is nowhere to have it. She said he is much more animated in the Camelot and final scene than when she saw it last season but he's just great. Tom is out again and that was very disappointing as, I think, we would all agree. I would hate to be an understudy for someone so loved. She can't remember anything else and told me to make stuff up but I'm coming up empty. so there yu have it!!!
eta: The Spamalot poster being sold for $40.00 - she thought that was too much so she took about 5 minutes before she weakened and bought it because, you know, Clay had signed it ................
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From what I heard at CV... No SD appearance today b/c it's a zoo where the theatre is b/c of the aucuction going on right now!!!!!!!!!! BUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have to come back to library tomorrow afternoon to see if there are pics from tonight's SD!!!!!!!!!!! *Crosses Fingers*
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 21, 2008 15:23:58 GMT -8
From Caperkeeper at CV.
QUOTE(caperkeeper @ Sep 21 2008, 05:36 PM) Attention!
butterflyshine just called me with this news: Clay was listening to his item being auctioned! Jerome was apparently outside and she thought we might see Clay but he was inside upstairs (remember the one guy looked up and said someone was 'mooning' them? at least I think that's what he said - that was probably Clay! Not mooning of course! Anyway she says she got a grainy picture of him in the window! A fan did win - butterflyshine wants to let her tell - but Jerome looked at butterflyshine and asked who? She pointed and he nodded ok.
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 21, 2008 15:35:16 GMT -8
Knights of Ni did the Palin and crystal meth line.
-Guard scene seems to go by quicker than last time (maybe because of Tom being out) and he didn't play with the ribbons.
-Soling his pants was perfect!
-YWSOB was great and he had great cheers. No tongue and no crossed eyes when he does the bottle dance.
-During the Tim the Enchanter scene, there was a delay when Tim was to fly offstage on his broom. Rick said, "I'll be going soon" and they were all having a hard time keeping a straight face.
-When Clay came on as Brother Maynard, he was still laughing a little from the Tim scene. His delivery though was very good and had good pauses in between the lines.
-During the Finale, he was smiling a lot and was turning around joking with a knight and a blonde dancer. He had on his mismatched socks andgave his salute.
They were all going to hang out in the Alley for a little bit to see if anyone came out. The Not Yet Dead t-shirt they are selling at the Spam table is beige and says "Recycle Or I'll Eat You! - Spamalot" and has the Killer Rabbit and an earth symbol on it.
toni, AAIT, xxx, and Scarlett all say hello! Thanks to all of them for helping us be part of the fun!
toni is leaving soon but xxx may be able to call someone tonight with reports.
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 21, 2008 17:10:08 GMT -8
I'm back home from the matinee. Let me tell ya, the city was something else today!! I knew that Broadway Cares would be doing it's thing, but had absolutely no idea it would be as huge as it was!! My first inkling came when I got to 42nd street (I walked from Penn Station to the Shubert which is on 44th Street). It took me almost as long to walk the two blocks from 42nd street to 44th as it did to walk from 33rd to 42nd! Madhouse! Tons of people, streets blocked off, vendors everywhere, people everywhere. Shubert Alley was insane--people packed like sardines in a can. I immediately knew that there would be no stage door today!! I saw Jerome at around 12:45 at a different stage door--the one down from the Shubert. The door was open and there he was. I stayed around to see if Clay was coming out, although I doubted he would due to the crowd. He didn't. Lots of celebrities were there, and later they were sitting on chairs set up on the porch of Juniors for photos and autographs. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it, because as they passed me to get to Jr's, I didn't recognize anyone except for Boyd Gaines, who stars in Gypsy with Patti LuPone. Spam had a table set up right outside the theater, and I bought a Playbill signed by the entire cast ($20). Clay's autograph was very legible, unlike the ones he does at stage door when he has to sign quickly.
Enough of that--on to the show itself! Clay is feeling much more comfortable in the show already. He's doing more of the little things that he didn't do Friday night. Small things--but very funny. In the Camelot scene, one of the scantily clad women kissed him on the cheek and her lipstick remained there until he went offstage. He got all giggly (in character) and told one of the other knights "She kissed me" and was all excited. He was flirty, he shimmied A LOT, and was, in general, back to his old self.
I wasn't sure I would survive the bottle dance from the second row, seat 109. Almost dead center. And I almost didn't. Everyone needs to sit there at least once. Man. He comes right at you! Those eyes!! Up close like that, I could see them sparkle! I could also see the hole in his tights. Yes ladies, it's there. You can't miss it. Small, but there. And yes, the slit in his tunic is higher--ummm--it seems to be much higher. So high that basically every time he moves, you see the entire length of his thighs. I won't describe more than that--your imagination will fill in the blanks very nicely I'm sure. You don't even have to look to see--those incredible thighs are just there, right in front of you. But--it appears that there are layers of clothes--so it's not like you are really seeing the form of his legs. You see the layers of clothes. But it's still nice!
I can't believe I just said all that!! Second row is truly a treat. And not just for the above mentioned things. You see him talk to the others, you can lip read what he says, you see his sparkly eyes, you swear he sees you the few times he glances into the first rows of the audience, you see his facial expressions, you see him. Simply him, up close and personal. Truthfully, I didn't watch much of the rest of the show--I watched Clay. I've seen the show several times, so I knew when a favorite part was coming up and watched that--Patsy doing his thing with the Laker girls--so hysterically funny--Rick doing everything that he does--but other than that, my eyes were glued on Clay. I may never be that close again, so I took full advantage. I once sat in row A, seat 1 left orchestra. Great seat--you see him soooo close during some parts of the show--but center row B (or A) you see him so much more. I didn't even blink during the bottle dance--did not want to miss even a nanosecond of it!!
The audience was more subdued this afternoon. Probably more NJU folks as fans began the trek back home. Even at the end--during the curtain call--not a full standing ovation at all. He was the first one that anyone stood for, but it was only maybe half of the orchestra section that stood. I purposely looked, and wish I hadn't, because it bothered me that everyone was not on their feet for Clay and for that fabulous cast. So I clapped and cheered louder to make up for it!!
Clay is simply the best. He's funny, he's adding things to the show again--more than he did Friday night--and he just loves what he's doing. It shows. His comedic timing--his facial expressions--that voice. Oh what a voice he has. But you guys already know that. I'm preaching to the choir!!
My Saturday post was different than this one--that one was kind of a pep talk at the end. This one is, I don't know, just a regular one I guess. All I know is that I love Clay Aiken--and every time I see him, he only reinforces why I love him. It's indescribable to be so close to him for two hours--to see his every move, hear his every word, lip read his comments to his fellow cast members--his every everything!! It was a great afternoon. And if I have to wear twenty sweaters in my house to keep warm from now until January 4th so that I can spend money on more tickets rather than on oil so that I can see him again and again, I will. He's that good. Heck, he's not good. He's superb. Simply superb. Simply Clay.
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Post by Aiken4ClayInSeattleWA on Sept 21, 2008 21:44:28 GMT -8
When the King said 'Let's Go To Camelot' and those dancers appeared I thought he mouthed the word 'Awesome'. Clay's jaw looked like he was going to bite down into one luscious meal....looks like the man's been so hungry for this. Alot of the dancers were new and Clay's been away without much rehearsal time or time to get to know the new cast. So he started off a bit mild in the 'lady chasing'. No looking under the skirts but some serious leering. And when he was leaning against the wall, and the dancer came toward him he did a quiet little shake at first, testing the waters...a medium size kick and then he shimmied right up to that dancer with a bump and a grind and the audience went wild and wouldn't stop.. The lady in green who does the 'rear pinch' did her goose thing and Clay's smile was so wide the folks in the wings had to run out of the way. He was so loving it...Clay looked like he wanted that armor thrown at him bad. Of course, Hannah usually thwarted him the tease....The Lady Of the Lake threw her 'arm' right at Clay. I think it took him by surprise as he quickly tried to catch it but it slipped through his fingers. But he 'grabbed' it on the rebound and held it close. You da man Clay! The dice lady faced Clay and they did a front facing shimmy together.
The dance of the grails....uh huh....side to side funky dance tonight....fingers snapping, head going down....I'm cool,....I'm cool...oh yeah....Slow motion dance with deep, deep bend and his face puffing out and the tongue out as far as humanly possibly and then a mock cry as though bending down was putting those thights and hips way further than they should or could go. but ya gotta know my motto on this...ain't no depth too far for those lovely leg muscles.
We got a nice tunic flip. Delay, then snap...a flourish and all is revealed. as he sat down to play Chopsticks. Then the turn....the leg cross, the profile...he's got us...he's got us good and the look in his eyes...ownership...he owns that audience....and he tossed his hair and brought us home...The shimmy...How Chassidic was that stomp.... The piano climb...Oy...and a krechts (for those who want the Yiddish to English translations for a krechts...all I an say is get down on one knee much like Bottle Dance...then try and get up...the noise you make is ....Oy...a Krechts....(hand on side of back as you go). Clay gave big time oys...his voice so rich and pure and strong.... The kneel down at the end was more than playing the Broadway ham mugging for applause....he crossed his arms over his heart, he looked up to the sky just taking it in, turning his head, his body in different poses and overflowing with pure, unadulterated joy for each one. It was almost like the AI Wildcard show where he looked up to the sky in almost disbelief of how amazing it all was. That smile didn't stop at his eyes. It spilled out of his pores. It mixed with the oxygen and became part of the atmosphere. My gosh this man must have missed the audience love. He just basked.
At the peasant scene when they asked for a 'hand' - the hand didn't come down. Evveryone waited and waited but no hand...Clay was there tonight. I guess G-d figured they didn't need a hand. They had Clay. And his size 13 feet and every other gorgeous part of him. The peasant tonight was a very lovely lady and Clay put out his hand for her to shake. She was almost going to turn away but she saw his hand and he gave her this beseeching look that could have melted the Arctic. And she shook his hand and he gave this look of triumph. Hands on either side of his waist, chest puffed out... 'I got the hand shake'... yes....then he looked right at her...so ecstatic...so 'triumphant'. Those Spam ads weren't kidding about that. Triumph mixed with equal gratitude. Doesn't get sexier than that.
Clay tried to do a little synchronized kick/shimmy/dance with David Hibbard (Patsy) and Bevedere (Wally Dunn).. Then Clay tried to do some patty cake type move with folding his arms and then he thew up his hands and shrugged like 'I don't know'. Nobody knew. It was just the moment and they were in it and having a blast. Right before the curtain call huge bunches of photographers ran up to the stage to catch that moment in time. Then 'Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life' and Clay holding his ear and beckoning us (to sing...to sing...) , putting his fingers to his lips....dancing, a party on stage.
Shubert Alley was full with lines of people going back up to Juniors. I didn't get close to the front. Someone filmed the audience and we screamed and screamed....Then we saw Jerome and Clay, looking hot....The crowd just roared. You couldn't hear what anyone was saying because it was just a wall of crowd noise. Clay waved and started to go inside and then came back. That's when he hugged and took the picture with the girl in the wheelchair. It was so sweet and kind. I saw that girl afterwards and she was glowing. Clay didn't just make her day. He made her year. He does that for so many people. We all shared that hug. Not literally. But it made us warm. Not easy in chilly fall in New York. But Clay is stronger than the weather and that's something. He waved again and went inside. This was one beautiful night. In oh so many ways.
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